[Feature Request] FARR use across computers

[nitrix-ud]

Hi Mouser,

You know that FARR is a very important part of my workflow.

I use Dropbox to share files across my computers but also many programs and custom scripts...

The filecontents command is VERY helpful

Code

f | #filecontents C:\Dropbox\_common\programs\FARR Aliases\g.txt

to make changes quickly across computers...
I would even say that's unvaluable...

However, when i need to add an alias, a search folder, when i need to change a setting, update FARR etc...
I have to do it on every computer... that's not a lot but that's 5 computers already...

Settings, alias, search folders... everything is the same... so here is my feature request

Optionnaly, using the already existing ConfigDir.ini, add a dynamic PREFIX parameter (I use the computer name to distinguish my computers in my ahk scripts) to prefix every files that are different from one computer to another... :

Code

FarrTroubleshooting.log
FindAndRunRobot.ini
FindAndRunRobot.ini.bak
FindAndRunRobot_launchhistory.ini
FindAndRunRobot_searchhistory.ini
FindAndRunUserToolbar.ini

We would have this simple ConfigDir.ini file:

Code

CONFIGDIR = .
PORTABLE=TRUE
PREFIX=TRUE

That way the exact same portable FARR could be put in Dropbox and used on any computer

Hope this feature request can make it for the next FARR update 

Donation on its way to give you a little incentive

[mouser]

Can you elaborate a little on how you would use such a prefix.. which files would you keep unique to the pc and which would you want shared?

[nitrix-ud]

To begin... here is a great FARR tip It gives you an idea where my prefix idea comes from...

Code

f | #filecontents C:\Dropbox\_common\programs\FARR Aliases\t_%uservar.Pixos.computer%.txt

this also works:

Code

f | #filecontents C:\Dropbox\_common\programs\FARR Aliases\t_%USERNAME%.txt

side note....but this does not work (small bug ? %COMPUTERNAME% is not replaced):

Code

f | #filecontents C:\Dropbox\_common\programs\FARR Aliases\t_%COMPUTERNAME%.txt

=================================================

The way I see it:

I have nothing to do except add PREFIX=TRUE in the ConfigDir.ini file.

and FARR automatically add the computer name to the files specific to each computers...

Code

maincomputer_FarrTroubleshooting.log
maincomputer_FindAndRunRobot.ini
maincomputer_FindAndRunRobot.ini.bak
maincomputer_FindAndRunRobot_launchhistory.ini
maincomputer_FindAndRunRobot_searchhistory.ini
maincomputer_FindAndRunUserToolbar.ini

so on my second computer, FARR would save those files:

Code

mysecondcomputer_FarrTroubleshooting.log
mysecondcomputer_FindAndRunRobot.ini
mysecondcomputer_FindAndRunRobot.ini.bak
mysecondcomputer_FindAndRunRobot_launchhistory.ini
mysecondcomputer_FindAndRunRobot_searchhistory.ini
mysecondcomputer_FindAndRunUserToolbar.ini

and so on...

All those files would be in the same place, i can now make some changes on my main computer, FARR updates the main computer ini files: maincomputer_FindAndRunRobot.ini, ...
I can now replicate the changes on the other FindAndRunRobot.ini files... : mysecondcomputer_FindAndRunRobot.ini, mythirdcomputer_FindAndRunRobot.ini

I think this should be really easy to do

i see one small problem:
When you exit FARR it saves its current settings
So mysecondcomputer_FindAndRunRobot.ini, mythirdcomputer_FindAndRunRobot.ini would be overwritten
So I would have to exit FARR on any running computer...
make the changes, save
replicate the changes on the other FindAndRunRobot.ini files
restart FARR on the other computers...

Maybe, there is a command to reload ini files that i'm not aware of...


Basically, the only sections that changes from one computer to another (in the FindAndRunRobot.ini file), (if we want to be more specific...) are
[Windows]
[ExtraSettings]
everything else would be replaced (shared)
(in an ideal world, FindAndRunRobot.ini file would be split, so the shared part could be just replaced)

[skajfes]

I have a similar setup using dropbox.
I don't run into trouble with changing settings, since i rarely change them anymore. However, I do change aliases a bit. So I have a shared alias file that I symlinked from %appdata% to dropbox shared folder. This works well because FARR seems to instantly notice the change in alias. I am not sure if aliases are actually kept in memory, or loaded from disk every time they're required, but I works, and I'm happy.

I have a similar setup on each pc but there are some differences in text editors of choice etc. If any alias is using such a tool then I leverage user variables to define paths to tools.
I only have one or two for now, mainly a text editor, but that is beside the point.

[nitrix-ud]

However, I do change aliases a bit. So I have a shared alias file that I symlinked from %appdata% to dropbox shared folder.

Thanks for sharing this tip 

I personally like the filecontent method because besides allowing shared aliases, It also allows me to use my text editor of choice (sublime text) to edit my aliases ... which I find much easier to use than FARR options... 

[IainB]

I would like to have FARR functionality, settings and aliases automatically distributed across different computers and for different users on those computers.
The question is, "How?".
I'm not sure that syncing it all via the Cloud will do the trick though.
A pseudo-Citrix Thin Client system comes to mind...   

[nitrix-ud]

Can you elaborate a little on how you would use such a prefix.. which files would you keep unique to the pc and which would you want shared?

Hello Mouser,

Tell me if my previous post is elaborated enough ? or do you need some more inputs ?

I think that if you want to keep it as simple as possible you can just add the PREFIX directive into the config file

Code

CONFIGDIR = .
PORTABLE=TRUE
PREFIX=TRUE

then add a distinctive prefix for each computer/user ? (computer name is a good candidate or a concatenation of computer name and user ??)

That simple trick would be sufficient. That would be so great 

I hope you can keep improving one of the best utility and THE BEST launcher

Cheers, Nitrix

PS: just a quick reminder ... have you had a chance to look to the command line parameter 300-characters limit ?

[nitrix-ud]

Hello mouser 

Have you had a chance to take a look at my feature requests ?

Last FARR release was a year ago, maybe it's time to release a new version 

[mouser]

Just got back in town from father's memorial, so yes, i will be looking at this soon.

[nitrix-ud]

I'm so sorry mouser, I just discovered your father passed away last november 

I'm sure he was a very special person considering he is YOUR father

Plein de douces pensées de France pour toi mouser.

[nitrix-ud]

Hi Mouser,

Hope you spend a nice summer

Any news regarding the use of FARR across computers ?

and

Regarding the command-line parameter limit ?

Thanks, Nitrix

[nitrix-ud]

Hi Mouser 

Any news on the FARR front ?

I would love to see a new release ! 

[IainB]

I'm still trying to figure out a workaround to overcome the inherent limitaions in FARR, in order to achieve the objective stated.
No luck yet, though I got close to it by trying to get FARR to run from the Cloud - like a Chromebook. Trouble was, I was using OneDrive as my Cloud, and that had some unanticipated drawbacks... 
Ah well, onwards and upwards.

[nitrix-ud]

@Mouser,

any news regarding FARR new release ?

I really hope you can make this happen soon 

[mouser]

Im going to try to get updates out of my main DC apps in november, so let's talk soon about this.

[nitrix-ud]

Im going to try to get updates out of my main DC apps in november, so let's talk soon about this.

Great! Let me know when you need inputs

[nitrix-ud]

Im going to try to get updates out of my main DC apps in november, so let's talk soon about this.

This is december

I'm receiving a brand new computer in a week or so, december is a good time to try the new FARR release  

[mouser]

Sorry for the delays, but I haven't forgotten.  Finally did beta updates for CHS and LBC, now moving on to FARR and SC, so I've started on this, but I'll have some questions soon I think.

[nitrix-ud]

Great ! 

i'm here to help whenever you need me 

[nitrix-ud]

Hey mouser, it's been four months now any advance regarding farr use across computers ?

I don't know if it would be simpler... but i have two suggestions that would really help using FARR across computers

1) create a search folders ini file like the FindAndRunRobot_launchhistory.ini, FindAndRunRobot_searchhistory.ini and give us the possibility to store it wherever we want... (of course a nice location for it would be a folder in dropbox...)... even better keep the search folders as it is and add an option to add a new search folders list stored in an ini file that we can store wherever we want... that way it would be possible to have common search folders (across computers) and per-computer search folders...

2) give us the possibility to add an alias file not stored in AliasGroups... then again the idea is to store the aliases files wherever we want...


If those two features would be added, i would install farr outside dropbox (or any other cloud folder) then i would share : search folders settings, aliases (and i would keep using the extraordinary filecontent command...) and most of the time i would be able to modify pretty much everything i need from only one computer...

[skajfes]

FWIW I basically only share aliases across computers. I did that via dropbox and symlinks. FARR is installed in default location (program files) and i've symlinked the shared aliases file from %mydocuments%/DonationCoder/FindAndRunRobot/Aliases to a dropbox folder. Works really well as I have a bunch of shared universal aliases which I update from time to time and don't change the rest of the settings at all.
And the rest of the settings (like search folders, user variables, search history etc) are really computer specific so I don't share them.

[nitrix-ud]

That's a nice idea. 
Although, i'm a bit afraid of side effects
You do it on every aliases files you want to share or on the full folder ?
And most importantly, how do you create the symlinks ? (which one is the target, which one is the link, which tool do you use ?)

As a team, we share all search folders too, so basically when i improve our FARR workflow, i have to change an alias then add it on every computer and sometimes, i have to add a new search folders on every computer... we also share quick search words, hotkeys (that one almost never changes)

[skajfes]

I did it on specific alias files. The files actually live in dropbox, and the symlink is in C:\Users\<user>\Documents\DonationCoder\FindAndRunRobot\AliasGroups\MyCustom.
I didn't want to share the entire folder, because I have some computer specific aliases that I use.

I've created the symlink using mklink tool in cmd, basically:

Code

mklink C:\Users\<user>\Documents\DonationCoder\FindAndRunRobot\AliasGroups\MyCustom\myshared.alias D:\Dropbox\Apps\FARR\Shared aliases\myshared.alias

I don't share search folders because I didn't see a way to get them out of the FindAndRunRobot.ini file, which I didn't want to share across computers.
But I do have some aliases that rely on sharing search folders. I've gotten arround that by using search folder modifiers and user variables.

For example, I have a shared alias that searches my dropbox folder, which is basically just

Code

dosearch +dropbox

, and on every computer I added a search folder with path to dropbox folder for that pc with a modifer of dropbox.

Similar thing with aliases that rely on some app. For example I have an alias that opens the hosts file in a elevated text editor, and for the actual editor i use a user variable. So this is the alias:

Code

%uservar.Common.EditorSingle% "C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts" /runasadmin

and the EditorSingle user variable is set point to text editor executable on each pc. (On one pc it's Notepad++, on another is Vim, on the third one is portable Notepad, etc)

This works for me, but I don't change the search folders and user variables that often, and on a new pc i just copy the settings from an existing one and modify once.

In that light I would maybe propose that the settings file be split up into multiple files, and the criteria is what is generic and what is computer specific. So basically just extract SearchFolders and User variables to separate files.

[nitrix-ud]

Many thanks skajfes !

I will try as soon as i get some time... 

I don't share search folders because I didn't see a way to get them out of the FindAndRunRobot.ini file, which I didn't want to share across computers.

That's why i'm asking for this feature... having an extra ini file pour additionnal search folders...

I too use search folder modifiers and user variables 

I even use dynamic search folders

When switching project, the user variables change, so that the search folders change too
i can have aliases that will only search inside a particular project in many different places.

But sometimes I need to add a new search folder so that we can add a new functionality to our workflow, and in that case, I have to modify all the settings on all the computer accordingly.

[skajfes]

I even use dynamic search folders

Nice